Hamlet critic quotes & interpretations

Question 1

“He has the persuasiveness and physical courage of a ruler, but is morally empty”

Answer 1

Schofield on Claudius

Question 2

Emund Willard’s 1930s Claudius

Answer 2

portrayed as a very business like villain, calculated and controlled rather than overtly evil

Question 3

2006 University of Central Florida Conservatory Theatre on presentation of Claudius

Answer 3

Claudius internal struggles with guilt rather than pure evil, presenting him as a nuanced villain

Question 4

“Hamlet is obliged to act on the spur of the moment”

Answer 4

Coleridge in 1800

Question 5

Ian Rickson 2011 on Hamlet’s madness

Answer 5

Set in a psychiatric hospital, presenting Hamlet as truly insane, and Claudius as the chief psychiatrist

Question 6

2009 David Tennant Film adaptation on Hamlet’s madness

Answer 6

Hamlet dresses erratically and acts in a hyperbolic manner as compared to when he is not being watched, suggesting feigned madness

Question 7

2009 David Tennant observations

Answer 7

Unsettling due to a camera spying on characters at all times, characters cannot escape being watched

Question 8

“Questions are only asked when people are uncertain”

Answer 8

Richard Gill 1998 on act 1 sc1